Questions on buying a Pre-reg car

Jaxer

I'm thinking of buying a pre-registered car. I've searched around the net so I think I've got a good handle on the issues involved but I'm curious how other people have dealt with these 2 specific issues : 1) Insurance - are there any companies that are more "friendly" towards the separation of registered keeper and legal owner? 2) Legalities - whats the situation if you get a police "producer" before the V5 is officially transferred into the new name (which may be around 6 months in this case). I'm going to be talking to the broker on Monday but it would be good to hear from anyone who's already gone down this road. Thx

Photo_Stylus

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A Pre-Registered car, is the same as a 2nd hand one, Usually only done delivery mileage & owned by the dealer. Makes car sales look impressive in the sales charts.

Are you buying the car in one name & insuring it in another? Why would the V5 take 6 months to transfer?

sillygoose

6 months to transfer?

If a broker/dealer is offering you a car cheaply as long as it is registered to them for 6 months then they are doing so because it was sold to the dealer cheaply by the manufacturer as a 'demonstrator car' and they will upset the manufacturer if they sell it before 6 months (usually longer actually). They often have to provide documented proof to them.

Anyway this is illegal. Failure to register a vehicle to the new owner promptly is an offence. Your risk!

Premier_2

I'm wondering if this is a car bought originally on an employee purchase plan (which can't normally be sold or transferred quickly due to the significant discount given by the manufacturer/employer). If that is the case, then it sounds like it could be an ex-employee very soon.

... or more likely the OP has mis-understood what pre-registered means. As Photo Stylus says, it's just a term for a used car with very low mileage.

Anyway, to answer the question on a different registered keeper to actual owner, yes there are insurers prepared to offer insurance in these instances. You need to go through an agent/broker/direct - most online applications insist that the owner is the registered keeper.

mcjordi

dealers normally register so many cars to hit their targets set by manufacturers to get their "bonus" off the manufacturer

most of the time they have been demonstrater cars with low mileage often only around the 100 mark..

V5 to take 6 months to transfeR?? ive had my v5 back within a couple of weeks !

as for the police producer you get a reciept of the garage to show youve bought it...if your insurance is ok and your taxed etc youll be fine

bclark

I have bought a pre reg car. The V5 is going to be coming through in 6 weeks apparently.

As for Insurance I got quotes from quite a few and actually not one asked the question 'are you the registered keeper', which I was worried they would. Other issues with regards to not having the V5 for a bit are no different from the many hundreds of thousands of people driving around in Company vehicles, lease vehicles or hire vehicles. None of those people are the registered keeper and the law is set up to deal with those circumstances.

mcjordi

for the registered keeper bit tick yes as you will be when dvla change it over

sillygoose

bclark wrote: »

I have bought a pre reg car. The V5 is going to be coming through in 6 weeks apparently.

Other issues with regards to not having the V5 for a bit are no different from the many hundreds of thousands of people driving around in Company vehicles, lease vehicles or hire vehicles. None of those people are the registered keeper and the law is set up to deal with those circumstances.

Not so... the companies and hire companies will have registered the vehicles to themselves and are also the legal owner. It has nothing to do with who drives the car.

The point is the legal owner (and if you hand the garage money for a car or sign a finance thats YOU) must register the vehicle on transfer or you have broken the law.

That aside, you more than likely will get away with it, but the dealers are taking a big risk, they can lose their franchise for this.

plane_boy2000

Its a specific question on insurance - is the policy holder the registered keeper.

In your case it will be no, and as such the premium could be higher and your choice of insurer will be fewer - I know this as my car is on contract hire and quite a few of the budget insurers will not cover it as I am not the registered keper.

Personally unless the saving was pretty big I wouldnt bother, as you do run the risk of not notifying the DVLA . Also there are some disadvantages with pre reg such as less warranty, less breakdown cover and most insurers give you new for old in the first 12 months in the event of a total loss as long as you are the first keeper.

That said my partners car was pre reg as it was a lot cheaper than anything else I could get. It was 5 weeks old when we got it and it was transfered into her name on the day we collected it.

bclark

sillygoose wrote: »

Not so... the companies and hire companies will have registered the vehicles to themselves and are also the legal owner. It has nothing to do with who drives the car.

The point is the legal owner (and if you hand the garage money for a car or sign a finance thats YOU) must register the vehicle on transfer or you have broken the law.

That aside, you more than likely will get away with it, but the dealers are taking a big risk, they can lose their franchise for this.

How is what I said not so?

Companies and Hire companies have registered the cars to themselves as the legal owner, yet other people are driving them without any issues with regards to the Police, getting speeding tickets etc. Thats what I was saying, the Car will be registered to the dealer as the legal owner.

Its the dealer taking the risk here and thats what I was saying to the OP.

bclark

plane_boy2000 wrote: »

Its a specific question on insurance - is the policy holder the registered keeper.

In your case it will be no, and as such the premium could be higher and your choice of insurer will be fewer - I know this as my car is on contract hire and quite a few of the budget insurers will not cover it as I am not the registered keper.

Personally unless the saving was pretty big I wouldnt bother, as you do run the risk of not notifying the DVLA . Also there are some disadvantages with pre reg such as less warranty, less breakdown cover and most insurers give you new for old in the first 12 months in the event of a total loss as long as you are the first keeper.

That said my partners car was pre reg as it was a lot cheaper than anything else I could get. It was 5 weeks old when we got it and it was transfered into her name on the day we collected it.

Funnily enough having just been through getting loads of on-line quotes for insurance purposes, I was looking out for that question about 'are you the registered keeper' and not a single one asked it.